Greenpeace activists climb Madrid tower to protest U.S.-EU trade deal

MADRID (Reuters) - Greenpeace activists held a high-rise protest in Madrid on Tuesday, scaling a tower to oppose a free trade agreement being negotiated between the United States and European Union.

Greenpeace activists display a banner against TTIP free trade agreement while suspended on one of the Kio towers in Madrid, Spain, May 17, 2016. REUTERS/Andrea Comas

Greenpeace is against the proposed Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) deal, saying alongside other critics that it would give too much power to big business at the expense of consumers and governments.

Supporters say it would deliver more than $100 billion of economic gains on both sides of the Atlantic.

The activists began their protest at 0700 a.m. (0500GMT), climbing one of the city’s twin Kio Towers and unfurling banners reading “No to the TTIP” on one of its facades.

They climbed down voluntarily in the late afternoon after over nine hours on the tower.

Reporting By Reuters Teleivision in Madrid; Editing by Marie-Louise Gumuchian and Tom Heneghan